De George: John Hackworth's had success treating youth as a virtue

It was a year ago last Thursday that the Philadelphia Union installed John Hackworth as their manager. The first order of business for the new skipper was elegantly simple: To elevate still-teenage striker Jack McInerney, once highly touted as one of the club's inaugural lottery picks, from the wilderness of Peter Nowak's doghouse.

The rest, as they say, is history. Nowak's team scored eight goals en route to eight points in 11 matches; McInerney alone scored three times in four matches as Hackworth equaled Nowak's win total. In seven weeks, with McInerney leading a revamped frontline, the Union had five wins, almost double the number of points Nowak had accumulated in his final, fateful three months on the job.

McInerney finished as the team's leading scorer with eight goals. This season, the 20-year-old poacher is the leading scorer in MLS as the season nears its halfway point, and is one of the hottest young commodities on the U.S. soccer scene.

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Make no mistake, the conundrum had changed for Hackworth in a year's time. From what once was framed as turning Nowak's bottom-dwelling bunch into a playoff contender, Hackworth now has a playoff-caliber team that he is hoping to transform into a championship challenger. And though the problem is different, the solution may one from the past.

The 3-1 loss last Wednesday to D.C. United in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup brought the question into clear focus. With vets like Conor Casey, Keon Daniel and Michael Farfan in the lineup, the offense was stagnant, to put it nicely.

But the introduction of Don Anding, Leo Fernandes and Antoine Hoppenot -- at ages 22, 21 and 22, respectively -- provided a jolt. And in the stratification of the Eastern Conference, names like those may be the difference makers.

Hoppenot is about as close to a regular as the Union have, appearing in 13 of 15 matches, all as a sub. Fernandes, the 2013 Supplemental Draft pick, counts a lone MLS appearance to his resume, coming on in stoppage time in a win over Chicago. Of late, they've been falling into roles as high-energy substitutes late in games, a role Hoppenot has become familiar with over the last two years.

Anding is the newest introduction to the group, the only one of the three without a league appearance yet. This year's first-round SuperDraft pick did enter his name to the stat sheet against D.C., though, assisting on a goal by none other than McInerney.

Smart money projects Anding, an attacker in college at Northeastern, as a defender in MLS. Hackworth, though, has a well-established penchant for energetic wing play -- it's why Danny Cruz has been such a fixture this season -- and Anding has the physicality to contribute right away.

"That's just the kind of style I love playing," Anding said after the D.C. loss. "I love getting in behind and I love the speed of the game. Playing out there with Jack and Antoine and those guys up top, it just feels comfortable out there."

The flipside to the potential brought by the young players on the fringes of Hackworth's squad is the relatively pedestrian contributions of the veterans. Daniel and Farfan, both out of place when they've been deployed in winger roles opposite Cruz, have combined for no goals and two assists in 28 matches. They've rarely played the part of offensive threat, having just 10 of their 38 combined shots even find goal. (Daniel was added to the Trinidad & Tobago team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and will be away from the Union for most of July.) Their preference for working centrally tends to clog the middle of the pitch, not allowing McInerney and the forwards as much room to operate. Their strong technical play provides defensive stability, though perhaps not enough to warrant near-automatic inclusion each game.

The playoff spots in the Eastern Conference are ripe for the taking. A mere two points separate places three and seven in the standings, and teams will be looking to the transfer window to find the difference-makers in that group.

Hackworth's team is in playoff position because of the coach's willingness to put faith in his youthful talent. Doing so again my vault them forward another step.